Singapore set for an inauspicious Chinese New Year

City-state is imposing new celebration-curbing restrictions to prevent a viral resurgence over the Lunar New Year holiday

Chinese New Year will be a distinctly muted affair for those ringing in the Year of the Ox in Singapore, where authorities have tightened restrictions on festivities amid fears of new Covid-19 super-spreader events

The new coronavirus clampdown comes as the city-state prepares to host the World Economic Forum (WEF) summit in May, an in-person, non-virtual event being billed as a symbolic reopening of international bridges in preparation for a post-pandemic future.

Locally transmitted cases have inched up over the last month since Singapore eased restrictions in line with the third and final stage of its phased economic reopening. The city-state’s health authorities say the 36 community cases that have accrued since the beginning of January are indicative of additional undiagnosed community infections.

The emergence of new cases and clusters is a setback for an island nation that has made strides containing Covid-19, boasting one of the world’s lowest viral fatality rates and more often than not recording zero new daily cases. But with complacency setting in, the government has urged caution and restraint ahead of Chinese New Year gatherings.

Read the full story at Asia Times.

Nile Bowie is a journalist and correspondent with the Asia Times covering current affairs in Singapore and Malaysia. He can be reached at nilebowie@gmail.com. 

Biden won’t quit Trump’s trade war on China

Biden administration will change the mechanisms and tactics but will maintain the same pressure Trump heaped on China

With US-China relations at a historic low, President Joe Biden’s new administration is expected to keep the pressure on Beijing as it sets a new multilateral course in a rivalry that erupted into debilitating tech and trade wars during Donald Trump’s tenure.

While many businesses and investors hope for a trade policy reset, including clearer messaging and greater predictability after four erratic years under Trump, it’s not immediately clear Biden will be able to muster easily the “collective leverage” with traditional allies he seeks to coax Beijing to comply with better trade terms.

Trump’s “America First” trade departure drew a hard line against China’s state-led economic model and sought to lure more manufacturing jobs back to the US. The previous administration accused Beijing of stealing intellectual property and imposed tariffs on more than US$370 billion in Chinese goods in a sharp break with free-trade convention.

A bitter trade war was partially defused when the US and China signed a “phase one” trade agreement last January, which committed Beijing to increase its purchases of American products and services by at least $200 billion over two years. But despite that deal, America’s trade imbalance with China has worsened.

Read the full story at Asia Times.

Nile Bowie is a journalist and correspondent with the Asia Times covering current affairs in Singapore and Malaysia. He can be reached at nilebowie@gmail.com. 

Muhyiddin’s emergency aims to save his political life

Malaysian leader's declaration of a Covid-19 state of emergency allows him to forestall snap polls and strengthen his grip on power

With daily Covid-19 cases hitting new record highs and political tensions at a breaking point, Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin’s declaration of a nationwide state of emergency could give him the power and time he needs to stabilize the country and retain the premiership.

Malaysia’s king, Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah, consented to a state of emergency on January 12 under which Parliament and the holding of elections have been suspended. Under emergency rule, the premier has broader and more enhanced powers to enact new laws as emergency ordinances, which the military has been empowered to enforce.

“Let me assure you, the civilian government will continue to function. The emergency proclaimed by the king is not a military coup and curfew will not be enforced,” said Muhyiddin in a televised address as he sought to dispel alarm over the measures, which could last until August 1 or end earlier if transmissions are contained.

Malaysia hasn’t declared a national emergency since the bloody race riots and civil unrest of 1969. The announcement has strengthened the 73-year-old premier’s shaky grasp on power, ending speculation that a snap election could soon be called and forestalling any attempt by his political opponents to force early polls.

Read the full story at Asia Times.

Nile Bowie is a journalist and correspondent with the Asia Times covering current affairs in Singapore and Malaysia. He can be reached at nilebowie@gmail.com. 

Axed railway raises Malaysia-Singapore trust deficit

Bilateral cancellation of once ballyhooed high-speed rail project runs deeper than disagreements over costs and Covid

Not long after ringing in the new year, disappointment set in for those on both sides of the Causeway separating Singapore and Malaysia. On January 1, the two countries announced the termination of a multi-billion-dollar high-speed rail (HSR) that would have directly linked the city-state to Malaysia’s capital Kuala Lumpur.

News of the much-anticipated project’s cancellation came as a blow to frequent travelers who shuttle between the two neighboring Southeast Asian states, with leaders from both sides offering conflicting explanations for why the rail link, once touted by Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong as a “game-changer” for bilateral relations, was axed.

According to a joint statement, the two countries were unable to reach a consensus on continuing the project after Malaysia’s government proposed several changes to reduce costs in light of the economic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.  Slated for completion by 2031, the rail link would have cost an estimated US$14.9 billion to $19.8 billion.

The 350-kilometer, or 218-mile, HSR would have cut the travel time between the two cities down to about 90 minutes from the more than four hours it now takes by car. According to official estimates, the rail link would have contributed $5 billion in gross domestic product (GDP) to Malaysia and Singapore, as well as create 111,000 jobs by 2060.

Read the full story at Asia Times.

Nile Bowie is a journalist and correspondent with the Asia Times covering current affairs in Singapore and Malaysia. He can be reached at nilebowie@gmail.com. 

Singapore shines the way to a post-pandemic 2021

City-state sees hope on the horizon with arrival of Covid-19 vaccines and virtually no new daily cases or deaths

Once a cautionary tale of the pandemic era, Singapore is beginning 2021 boasting a comeback story. Having once had the highest Covid-19 caseload in Southeast Asia when daily infections were at their peak in April, the city-state has nearly eradicated local transmission of the virus in a hard-fought narrative reversal.

While parts of the world experience new lockdowns and a resurgence of the coronavirus, daily cases are almost zero in Singapore, with only a small number of infected people arriving from abroad. Fatality rates are among the world’s lowest with just 29 deaths nearly one year on from when the island republic reported its first case.

“Covid-19 has been a relentless fight that has tested our resources and resolve to the fullest,” said Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong in his New Year message on December 31. “The first batch of vaccines has arrived in Singapore, and vaccinations have already begun. We can now see light at the end of the tunnel.”

Singapore was the first country in Asia to receive doses of the Covid-19 vaccine developed by US pharmaceutical giant Pfizer and German firm BioNTech. Healthcare workers and the elderly were among the first to be inoculated in late December. To show the vaccine is safe, Lee, 68, and his colleagues are slated to be early recipients of the shots.

Read the full story at Asia Times.

Nile Bowie is a journalist and correspondent with the Asia Times covering current affairs in Singapore and Malaysia. He can be reached at nilebowie@gmail.com.